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August 10, 2005

Would you like to customize your start button to work differently, or look like it did with an earlier version of Windows?  Well, in this discussion, I will show you how easy it is to customize the taskbar.  Don't be afraid to make windows look and act like you want.

It might also be a good idea to set a System Restore point before you start, in case you want to easily put things back the way they were. Click here for System Restore information.

First of all, right click on the taskbar, anywhere where the is no icon, then right click on Properties.  You can do your own customization, I prefer to lock the taskbar when I'm done since sometimes it is easy to accidentally click the mouse button while moving around the screen, and the next thing you know, the taskbar moves.  Locking the taskbar  prevents that from happening. 

Auto-hiding the taskbar makes it disappear until you move the mouse to the bottom of the screen.   Keep the taskbar on top of other windows makes sure the taskbar is always visible at the bottom, top, or where ever you put the taskbar.

I always uncheck the group similar taskbar buttons and hide inactive icons items, since I like to have icons visible by the clock showing the running programs.  I also like to show the quick launch toolbar so I can have icons next to the start button for programs I use frequently.

  
   

 

 

Now, click on the Start Menu tab.  If you want the menus to appear as they did in previous versions of Windows, you can click on Classic Start Menu.

 
   

If you want to keep the Windows XP format, click on the Customize button. For those of us who are vision impaired, or just getting older, if you click on Large Icons, the icons will be easier to see. The programs section will put the last programs you started on the list and will include the number of programs you specify. The bottom section will show Internet Explorer and Outlook, or Outlook Express (Funny how Micro-soft programs will be shown on the menus).

  
   

Now, click on the Advanced tab.  I always uncheck the Highlight newly installed programs item.  I don't care to see the menus highlighted when I install a new pro-gram, but set this however you want.  The recent document list will show the last documents you had open, here again, it's a matter of preference if you want these items shown. Going down the list of start menu items, you can select the options which suit your taste.

  

Once you have a restore point set before you make changes, you can experiment with the different settings and see what you like. If you can't figure out how to undo the changes you made, just restore to before you made the changes.

If you have any questions or comments, click

Please Note: All information provided in The Help Desk web site is in easy to understand terms, in my opinion only, and may not necessarily be the only accepted answers or advice.  I will not be responsible for any problems caused from anyone making any configuration or hardware changes to their computer system resulting from information obtained from this web site.  Please contact me prior to using any content from this web site.